Bergamo airport (BGY) to and from Bergamo city centre, Italy.

Day to day inside information about Bergamo airport in Northern Italy.

Bergamo airport is also known amongst the budget airlines (Ryanair etc) as Milano Orio al Serio. It is 1 hour east of Milan. This is NOT Milan. If you wish to fly to Milan i would recommend going to Milan Linate airport, 20 minutes from Milan city centre. The other milan airport Malpensa is also 1 hour away (north) from milan city centre, its difficult to get to (buses only) so its probably better to travel to BGY as it has a better infrastructure network and you can visit Bergamo “alta” in your travels.

The following article is very informative and useful for anyone travelling to BGY and having to organise onward travel. Click to….

Bergamo airport.

Is now Ryanair’s northern Italian hub and is ideally located for exploring the Italian Dolomites, the Italian Lake, Lake Maggiore, Lake Iseo, Lake Garda and obviously Bergamo, with its historic town centre.

Verona (Brescia) is 15 minutes south of Brescia (mid way between Bergamo and Verona)

Veronaairport is 15 minutes south of Verona

Linate Milan as mentioned above.

General info :

Bergamo airport is experiencing a large increase in passenger numbers and is under continuous expansion. The airport can get very busy, is a little chaotic and not very well signposted.

So to help you with your destination please read the following.

To & from Bergamo airport to Bergamo city centre.

Taxi :

25 euros to the city centre. Straight outside the arrivals lounge. Ask for price confirmation before setting off. The official taxis are mainly white. There will be approximately 3 euros on the metre as you set off !!!

Want to get to BGY from Bergamo railway station the taxi rank is on the right. Should be 20-25 euros to the airport.

Public Bus : Bergamo airport to & from Bergamo railway station.

1.80 euros single to Bergamo railway station, great point to get further trains and buses into the Bergamo hinterland as right next to the bus station for onward bus journeys.(exit railway station 200 metres in front to the right). The public buses are orange. You must get a ticket and validate it before getting on the bus.

Going to Bergamo city centre from the airport ? As you enter the arrivals lounge there are over 10 different bus companies selling bus tickets to various destinations. Milan centre been the principal attraction. You must look for the ATB bus ticket office and buy your simple bus ticket for Bergamo city centre. Get the bus outside the airport. There are many buses (most private) waiting and it can be a little confusing. If all fails go back inside the airport and locate the tourist office and Daniella will be there to helpfully explain all in English.

Going to Bergamo airport from Bergamo railway station? There is a tourist office on your left 100 yards (looks like a wooden cabin) approaching the train station. Buy a ticket in the tourist office or if it is closed get a ticket from the newspaper stand inside the Bergamo railway station on your right ask for a “ticket aeroporto”. Take the bus directly outside and in front of Bergamo railway station. NUMBER 1 bus goes straight to the airport. Can’t miss it. It states “ferrovie – aeroporto” that’s train station-airport. Takes 15 minutes.

Public bus to and from BGY to Brescia town centre:

Train :

There is no direct train nor underground to Bergamo airport. You must take trains to Bergamo central and take the bus from the main railway station (see above).

Car :

Car hire pick up. All the major car hire companies can be found in Bergamo airport on the left as you enter the arrivals lounge. You MUST get the bus from the airport to the car hire pick up point, which is approximately a 1km from the airport. With the Bergamo tourist information office behind you walk through the sliding doors right in fromt of you . The car hire shuttle bus stop is immediately outside on the left. One turns up every 10 minutes. Do not attempt to walk to the pick up zone, you will get lost. When you leave with your hire car, remember the location, see the flyover to your left, thats what you need to remember for when you come back to drop off.

The car hire drop off and pick up zone at Bergamo airport is secretly hidden 2 minutes before the airport. Many go straight past it. As you approach the airport 1km before it, you will pass under a bridge. The next left is the way to the car drop off, followed by the first right. If you overshoot and end up with the airport terminal on your left then turn left into the airport and follow the exit signs, get back on the road you entered in and then take the first right and then next first right to the car hire zone. You need to get the shuttle bus, the bus stop is just at the beginning of the car hire zone, easy. Buses every 10 minutes to the airport terminal. Don’ t try and walk it will take you 10 minutes and its dangerous,but if you are in a rush go for it, there is a short cut at the back of the car hire zone towards the airport, you don’t need to take the road.

Nearest petrol stations for that final top up so as to drop off the car full. ? Use the last service station on the motorway, either east or west direction. If you miss it go for any petrol station once you leave the motorway, as from the motorway to Bergamo airport it is only 5 minutes. Read more about Italian petrol stations in David’s e-book ”Living in Italy”.

If you happen to be in Italy and need to leave your car at the airport, i would recommend parking 10 minutes away from the airport at http://www.parktofly.it/S_BGY.php?parkingid=4 and click here for a map http://www.parktofly.it/schede/BGY.php , its cheap and easy and they run you to the airport in their shuttle as and when you turn up. Park in the garage, leave your keys in the ignition, tell them when you are due back, put the yellow postit on your windscreen and jump on the shuttle bus. When you come back, get the red shuttle bus back from near the main car park ticket machine. Great service, don’t lose your receipt as they need this to re-issue you the car (if you fancy driving away in a better car you can find the keys on the windscreen !!!!) I last paid 30 euros for a week. Not bad.

Airport parking :

Great for short term parking, a little expensive for long term 9 euros /day !! Difficult to find the exit, just keep on driving away from the airport and it’s on your left after the multilevel parking. Remember to pay for your ticket at the kiosk in front of the car park.

Airport services:

Ground floor toilets are at the far end on the left walking into the terminal.

Few bars, shops, newsagents and cash machine.

1st floor : restaurant, cash machines and a few shops.

VIP lounge :

If you ever find yourself in the airport for a long period i would highly recommend the VIP lounge.Most VIP lounges are exclusively member card holders only, at BGY all you have to pay is 15 euros at desk number 1 just next to the information desk. Chill out as a VIP, free drinks, food, TV, papers and internet access and you get to know the staff (gosh i’m getting sad).

Checking in :

Security check in at BGY can be slow. Remember when you fly Ryanair that is when the airport is at peak time, i.e. early morning or late at night, hence there is an influx of travellers that the local airport staffing levels cannot cope with. They do not put on extra staff for peak hours, so be prepared, at least allow a good hour before gate closure to get through check in.

Once through check in there is not much at the other side. One small shop with rather expensive presents. Gates 1-5 are international flights (new departure lounges), go through passport control (also very slow), there is a bar in the waiting lounge. Gates 6 are national flights, there are more services up there, though its difficult to get back down, so you then have to use the emergency exit to get out and then go through security again to get back in !!

Electricity Sockets:

As a seasoned traveller its always important to know where you can find an electric socket whilst in an airport, it saves your laptop battery for the flight. BGY electricity points are very hard to come by as most of the sockets have key locks on and are industrial sockets not domestic. Best place is in the VIP lounge. There are sockets in the self service restaurant on the 1st floor.Sockets available just after security control (the security guys are not too keen on you loitering here). In the new departure lounges the best place to find a plug is to sit at an empty gate desk, there are always plugs there. Just you’ll have to move on when they need to use that gate.

FOG :

Pay attention to the weather forecasts in winter. Bergamo suffers from freezing fog in winter. It could be a nice sunny winters day and then suddenly at 21:00 the fog arrives. Remember evening flights are dependent on a plane coming in ontime and doing a quick turnaround. Only with morning flights is the plane already in the airport !! Pilots are allowed to make their own personnel evaluation to land or not in the fog if visibility is below 300 metres (most don’t land), the fog thickens quickly here. If the pilot on the incoming plane (turn around is usually 30 mins) decides not to land and diverts to another airport you will be sitting in the departure gate unaware of this. There will be announcement at the last minute that your plane has been cancelled. Ryanair offer a refund on your ticket price when this happens…nothing else…you get what you pay for…a seat…nothing else…and if its cancelled you don’t even get your seat, just a refund. I advise you to act quickly when this happens as everyone on your flight will try to buy a ticket for the same flight the day after…which already will be pretty well booked up. Get out of departure lounge, pick up any haulage luggage and either run to the ryanair ticket desk (not the checkin desk) the ticket desk near the information desk. If the queue is big i’d advise you to use the internet machine and go online and buy a ticket for the next day’s flight before the ticket desk sells out, it also costs less. Do not try to transfer your existing flight, it costs more than a new ticket, take the refund (well actually you have to email ryanair and then they refund you, believe me they do !) and start again.

For accommodation get over to the tourist office (closes at 10pm) asap and book a hotel room in Bergamo, take the bus or taxi. Enjoy a walk round bergamo city centre the day after then go back to the airport for your new flight.

The Terminal with Tom Hanks.

Wow i sound like Tom Hanks in The Terminal, yes i know BGY quiet well, but they don’t charge for the trolleys !!! Well they didn’t used to…now they cost 1 euro. Viktor there’s a burger in that. “Life is waiting”

Comments

A word of warning if you are leaving your car at PARKTOFLY in Bergamo airport, – do not leave anything in it! In my case they stole my mobile phone charger. Of course they “do not accept any responsibility for anything left in the car”. Also, it appears that they use the local depot beside the airport as a pick up / drop off point, and drive your car to an “off-site” storage area. This practice might be of concern to some car owners.

I was happy with the PARKTOFLY service in Bergamo airport and in other italian airports. Of course they don’t accept responsability for possessions as in any car park in the world !!! Yes they use an airport shuttle service to & from their car park depo, where you drop off your car and then it is “parked” by staff. When you return they “move” your car to an accessable area. MAke sure you know your return pick up date or you may not find your car ready.
Post your expereinces of italian airport car park.